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I would check the DS Lite guides at iFixIt, they're pretty good. You'd probably want to follow their upper LCD replacement guide except you'd just reconnect the one you've already got (hopefully it really is a loose connection and not a dead screen).

I would check the DS Lite guides at iFixIt, they're pretty good. You'd probably want to follow their upper LCD replacement guide except you'd just reconnect the one you've already got (hopefully it really is a loose connection and not a dead screen).

That is a step backwards as far as i'm concerned.

The fact that it is easily replaced is the point of this article. You do lost the ability to "carry" a spare battery, but hopefully Motorola having a focus on battery life by using two separate processors to help improve battery life.

Quote the article: "The taped-in battery is less accessible than we'd like, but at least it's near the top of the stack once you get the rear cover off (as opposed to the HTC One)." (coded yellow)

From their iPhone 5 teardown: "The battery comes out with a bit of prying once the front panel is removed." (coded green)

Both have the same repairability score 7 out of 10 (and the iPhone gets the better color rating for the battery). Does that mean you will stop claiming that the iPhone is not user repairable? And before you complain about the "once the front panel is removed" - "the iPhone 5 is opened front-to-back".

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+MacBook+Air+13-Inch+Mid+2012+Battery/10950/1

Does it hurt to be that stupid?

What do you mean you can't change the battery?
Do you not own a screw driver? And you call yourself a geek.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+MacBook+Air+Models+A1237+and+A1304+Battery/848/1

I'd honestly be unsurprised to see them sold wholesale to be stripped for components,

Those screens would be something... if the LCD and glass weren't glued together so hard.

or debranded and flashed into mysterious pacific rim non-brand Androids

Except there's the little problem that secure boot won't allow any other operating system run on the RT.

So MS is going to have problems selling them for anything more what they're worth for scrap metals recovery. Sure, they could unlock the bootloader, except that they've got a warehouse full of these things already boxed for retail sale. So they either have to open all the boxes, individually re-flash and re-package them, or they have to release some kind of unlocker app, of which I figure the odds are somewhere between "hell", and "no".

The Surface Pro with type keyboard was by far the best ultra-light device in its size. When it was released, with its 1920x1080 display, pen input, touch screen, etc. it blew past the now outdated 11" MacBook air and anything else in that size.

My only complaints was the glued down components and soldered RAM:

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Pro+Teardown/12842/1

I hope that the next Surface Pro 2 has Haswell, and eliminates the component glue and soldered RAM, or at least offers a 6-8GB RAM option and 256-480HG mSATA drive option. Then it would be prefect for me. Hopefully with a newer Haswell chip, the fans can also be reduced or eliminated, and the battery life will increase.

I am also eyeing the Haswell based Samsung ATIV Q, but at 13" it is a bit too large for me.

I also love the thin but solid unibody construction of the Acer Aspire s7-191, but without a pen input (which is really needed for my graphic and CAD work), it does not meet my needs. Not to mention, that it appears that Acer is abandoning the 11" model, which did not yet get the Haswell refresh.

On the Apple side, it is sad that Apple refuses to make a retina MacBook Air, even though the iPad3/4 has a 2048x1536 display compared to 1440x900 on 13" Air & 1366x768 on 11" Air, and also support pen input. Even though I much prefer Unix based OSX, for the first time in 8 years, I am planning to buy a Windows based laptop/tablet this year, instead of a Mac.

I wonder if there is any Linux distribution in the works which might take full advantage of these new touch based ultralights/tablets?

Hopefully manufactories will start to reduce the size of the large bezels around the display. With small devices, the smaller the bezel, the better the display.

Actually battery replacement isnt impossible.

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus+7+2nd+Generation+Teardown/16072/1

She was actually the perfect target audience for a Surface Pro. She wanted something tablet-sized but also a PC, high resolution, touchscreen, optional keyboard, and was willing to pay ultrabook prices for it. The Surface Pro checked off pretty much every box in what she was looking for and she was halfway out the door to buy one.

Then came ifixit's teardown and repairability review. Glue? Are you kidding me? If it breaks outside of warranty, you have a very, very expensive paperweight. They only offer a 1-year warranty, with an optional 3-year extended warranty (which includes accidental damage). And she's been burned by their extended warranty already (they refused to fix a cracked screen because they said since the laptop was out of production, the replacement screen cost exceeded her original purchase price and thus wouldn't be covered).

Yes, Nokia is Nokia. But Microsoft is Microsoft to, and nobody there wants a Windows Phone in their pockets.

I have only Nokia phones since 1999. I love this company, even with the Symbian debacle.

My N97 is dying. This Nok 1020 has great hardware, but I don't want it because of Windows. I prefer to focus on the HTC One, which is 9000 times less fixable than all the apple stuff that I love to hate.

If all these Lumia8xx/9xx/10xx were running Android...

Yes, Nokia is Nokia. But Microsoft is Microsoft to, and nobody there wants a Windows Phone in their pockets.

I have only Nokia phones since 1999. I love this company, even with the Symbian debacle.

My N97 is dying. This Nok 1020 has great hardware, but I don't want it because of Windows. I prefer to focus on the HTC One, which is 9000 times less fixable than all the apple stuff that I love to hate.

If all these Lumia8xx/9xx/10xx were running Android...

Try comparing with MacBook Pro 15" Retina for example. Almost everything can be replaced and repaired by someone, however if you need to use dangerous solvents to get inside the chips then it's not really repairable in real life by a normal person.

iPhone 4 is nearly 3 years old. Comparing it against a S3 or a S4 is weak sauce. One would hope that Samsung can at least create a phone that can beat a 3 year old phone. Also interesting how android forums is full of how the galaxy's are still jittery and have laggy gui.

And soldered in battery? Really? Is it really that difficult to remove 3 screws and swap a battery that's dead? No, you can't change batteries on a daily basis, not easily, but the battery also doesn't die in 4 hours like the Galaxy.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+iPhone+4+Battery/3141/1

I thought Apple created and patented their own non-standard pentalobe screws and only sells the screwdrivers to Apple techs. It was specifically designed to not work with the screwdrivers available for camera repair or at Ace Hardware.

Uh... did you realize that page doesn't have the word "patent" anywhere?

Hi! We're trying to build out a comprehensive set of resources for people wanting to start a repair business ([1], [2]), and we'd love to have any feedback or suggestions you might have. Information on the most common repairs, like what you've just provided, is an excellent example of the type of thing we're wanting to make more common knowledge.

Hi! We're trying to build out a comprehensive set of resources for people wanting to start a repair business ([1], [2]), and we'd love to have any feedback or suggestions you might have. Information on the most common repairs, like what you've just provided, is an excellent example of the type of thing we're wanting to make more common knowledge.

We do.

If you think Apple chose pentalobe (which has been a standard screw type available my entire life) to stop people from opening up their case to replace the soldered in battery, you're just a moron.

ProTip: I have pentalobe drivers from my father that are older than I am. They are not uncommon in older high end cameras where you need tiny screws that don't strip when you breath on them hard.

Are you sure about that? I thought Apple created and patented their own non-standard pentalobe screws and only sells the screwdrivers to Apple techs. It was specifically designed to not work with the screwdrivers available for camera repair or at Ace Hardware. There are many standard screws which are just as high-quality as the Apple pentalobe, going this route only serves to hinder any unauthorized "tampering" with the devices.

I guess I can never underestimate the spin Apple fans will go through to argue that Apple's user-hostile policies are actually good for you.

For $99, how can it go wrong?

I quickly learned the hard way that all-in-ones are NOT user-serviceable. Power supply go bad? No, you can't slap another one in your tower, you get to lug your big iMac into an Apple Store, walk past all of the hipsters fondling their iDevices, and up to the "genius" bar and leave it there for a week

Seriously? http://www.ifixit.com/Device/iMac_Intel

Using a pentalobe screw where a standard slotted one would do fine has nothing to do with the complexity or the thinness of the design.

I'd by that with torx screws which solved a specific manufacturing problem, but few designs since have been anything other than an attempt to prevent consumers from opening devices they purchased.

Uhh, yes they do. http://www.ifixit.com/Device/Tablet

They compare it to the iPad, which is pretty bad to repair... However, as a general purpose computer running a full OS, a fair comparison would also be the MacBook Pro Retina.
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Pro-with-Retina-Display-Teardown/9462/ ...1 out of 10 as well.

This is a bad trend with custom screws, glue and all sorts of crap.

And not the direct source: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Pro+Teardown/12842/

The iPad 2 Smart Cover, the only thing to score lower at a pitiful 0 out of 10! </joke>

Really guys, the summary is copied from the first paragraph on the wired article, which has the link to the iFixt teardown, was it that difficult to keep the link? http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Pro+Teardown/12842/

some have still some parts to replace.

like battery etc.. http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Pro+Teardown/12842/

dunno why the fuck the article links to wired.

Yeah, not any more. Go look at the latest iMac teardown from ifixit.

It is interesting to read people's responses. A lot of people don't seem to get that we don't all do their job. I would never buy a soldering iron. I suck at soldering and, at my hourly rate, it would be criminal to bill a client for having me try to fix something.

A few things that I have found.

A headlamp is generally better than a flashlight. You can take a headlamp off and use it as a flashlight, but it is a lot harder to mount a flashlight on your head. I have a great big thing that is designed for construction workers. I look like a fool when I wear it, but it works great.

The "network testers" that are really continuity testers annoy me. They cost a lot for not much information. I use a Byte Brothers Real World Certifier. http://www.bytebros.com/bb_pdf/RWC1000K_Real_World_Certifier_RS.pdf It gives you a lot of information for not a lot of money. Their LowVoltage Pro looks even better, but I haven't ever used one. I don't know what they mean by "pass/fail" on the cable test.

ifixit's 54-bit driver kit is nice to have around. http://www.ifixit.com/Tools/54-Bit-Driver-Kit/IF145-022 It doesn't replace real screwdrivers, but it is always there when I need it. I'm embarrassed by the number of times I have used the #2 Phillips out of their kit because I can't find a real screwdriver.

I believe in PC attached label makers. I am much more likely to label things when I don't have to find the labelmaker and type on a chiclet keyboard. I still have a Brother 1500pc, but there are current models. Get one that does 1" labels. You don't use them often, but when you do you are happy to have them.

But it all depends on what you do. For me, a USB to PATA/SATA adapter and an external power supply that will spin a HD is invaluable. Maybe not so much for you.

It has an LTE chip: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus%204%20Teardown/11781/3
It's probably a holdover from the Optimus G.

Isn't that the previous version though? The teardown shots I saw were here

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Samsung+Series+5+3G+Chromebook+Teardown/5939/2

Which shows a module for storage.

I run iFixit. We started writing our own repair manuals because of this very issue way back in 2003. Slashdot has run stories about us on a number of occasions.

Apple has been very aggressively protecting their copyright on service manuals pretty much since the dawn of the internet. Heres an example of them going after Something Awful. Many of the sites theyve gone after have ceased to exist.

Since then, with the help of tens of thousands of incredible repair technicians around the world (including many redditors), we have built the largest free repair manual. Because we write them ourselves, the manufacturers cant shut us down. The community has written over 6,000 manuals, and you can download and reproduce any of them to your hearts content. We even post all of our manuals on bittorrent and the internet archive so they are guaranteed to be free forever.

Heres our Toshiba laptop service manual. Weve made progress on half a dozen laptops so far, with more on the way. Not nearly as comprehensive as what timix had, but its a start.

Toshiba is not an outlier here--they represent the status quo. Many manufacturers havent gotten around to issuing these C&D letters, but its perfectly within their right. Any site hosting manufacturer service manuals without permission is at risk of a shutdown like this at any time.

Thats why what we do at iFixit is so important. The world needs to know how to fix these products. Repair is critical for the environment. Repair helps bridge the digital divide by keeping the secondhand electronics market alive. And electronics repair represents hundreds of thousands of jobs in the United States alone.

We cannot rely on the good will of manufacturers. Yes, many of them have looked the other way and ignored sites like timixs, but that is unlikely to continue. We have three options:

1. Create a free and open alternative to the manufacturers service manuals (thats what were doing at iFixit).
2. Pressure the manufacturers to waive copyright to their manuals so that we can reproduce them. Dell, HP, and Lenovo are the best targets for this because they already provide manuals online. (I am involved in discussions with some OEMs to make this happen. The more public support we have, the more success well have.)
3. Legislate. The auto manufacturers refused to provide independent shops with the information they needed, so they banded together and just passed Right to Repair legislation in Massachusetts last week. There's no reason we can't do the same.

Its easy to say, "shame on Toshiba" and move on with your life. But this is not unique to Toshiba. No cell phone manufacturer makes their service manuals available. In fact, outside of the heavy equipment industry (where customers demand it) and the automotive industry (where legislation requires it), its the rare manufacturer that does not use copyright to prevent publicat

I run iFixit. We started writing our own repair manuals because of this very issue way back in 2003. Slashdot has run stories about us on a number of occasions.

Apple has been very aggressively protecting their copyright on service manuals pretty much since the dawn of the internet. Heres an example of them going after Something Awful. Many of the sites theyve gone after have ceased to exist.

Since then, with the help of tens of thousands of incredible repair technicians around the world (including many redditors), we have built the largest free repair manual. Because we write them ourselves, the manufacturers cant shut us down. The community has written over 6,000 manuals, and you can download and reproduce any of them to your hearts content. We even post all of our manuals on bittorrent and the internet archive so they are guaranteed to be free forever.

Heres our Toshiba laptop service manual. Weve made progress on half a dozen laptops so far, with more on the way. Not nearly as comprehensive as what timix had, but its a start.

Toshiba is not an outlier here--they represent the status quo. Many manufacturers havent gotten around to issuing these C&D letters, but its perfectly within their right. Any site hosting manufacturer service manuals without permission is at risk of a shutdown like this at any time.

Thats why what we do at iFixit is so important. The world needs to know how to fix these products. Repair is critical for the environment. Repair helps bridge the digital divide by keeping the secondhand electronics market alive. And electronics repair represents hundreds of thousands of jobs in the United States alone.

We cannot rely on the good will of manufacturers. Yes, many of them have looked the other way and ignored sites like timixs, but that is unlikely to continue. We have three options:

1. Create a free and open alternative to the manufacturers service manuals (thats what were doing at iFixit).
2. Pressure the manufacturers to waive copyright to their manuals so that we can reproduce them. Dell, HP, and Lenovo are the best targets for this because they already provide manuals online. (I am involved in discussions with some OEMs to make this happen. The more public support we have, the more success well have.)
3. Legislate. The auto manufacturers refused to provide independent shops with the information they needed, so they banded together and just passed Right to Repair legislation in Massachusetts last week. There's no reason we can't do the same.

Its easy to say, "shame on Toshiba" and move on with your life. But this is not unique to Toshiba. No cell phone manufacturer makes their service manuals available. In fact, outside of the heavy equipment industry (where customers demand it) and the automotive industry (where legislation requires it), its the rare manufacturer that does not use copyright to prevent publicat

I run iFixit. We started writing our own repair manuals because of this very issue way back in 2003. Slashdot has run stories about us on a number of occasions.

Apple has been very aggressively protecting their copyright on service manuals pretty much since the dawn of the internet. Heres an example of them going after Something Awful. Many of the sites theyve gone after have ceased to exist.

Since then, with the help of tens of thousands of incredible repair technicians around the world (including many redditors), we have built the largest free repair manual. Because we write them ourselves, the manufacturers cant shut us down. The community has written over 6,000 manuals, and you can download and reproduce any of them to your hearts content. We even post all of our manuals on bittorrent and the internet archive so they are guaranteed to be free forever.

Heres our Toshiba laptop service manual. Weve made progress on half a dozen laptops so far, with more on the way. Not nearly as comprehensive as what timix had, but its a start.

Toshiba is not an outlier here--they represent the status quo. Many manufacturers havent gotten around to issuing these C&D letters, but its perfectly within their right. Any site hosting manufacturer service manuals without permission is at risk of a shutdown like this at any time.

Thats why what we do at iFixit is so important. The world needs to know how to fix these products. Repair is critical for the environment. Repair helps bridge the digital divide by keeping the secondhand electronics market alive. And electronics repair represents hundreds of thousands of jobs in the United States alone.

We cannot rely on the good will of manufacturers. Yes, many of them have looked the other way and ignored sites like timixs, but that is unlikely to continue. We have three options:

1. Create a free and open alternative to the manufacturers service manuals (thats what were doing at iFixit).
2. Pressure the manufacturers to waive copyright to their manuals so that we can reproduce them. Dell, HP, and Lenovo are the best targets for this because they already provide manuals online. (I am involved in discussions with some OEMs to make this happen. The more public support we have, the more success well have.)
3. Legislate. The auto manufacturers refused to provide independent shops with the information they needed, so they banded together and just passed Right to Repair legislation in Massachusetts last week. There's no reason we can't do the same.

Its easy to say, "shame on Toshiba" and move on with your life. But this is not unique to Toshiba. No cell phone manufacturer makes their service manuals available. In fact, outside of the heavy equipment industry (where customers demand it) and the automotive industry (where legislation requires it), its the rare manufacturer that does not use copyright to prevent publicat

I run iFixit. We started writing our own repair manuals because of this very issue way back in 2003. Slashdot has run stories about us on a number of occasions.

Apple has been very aggressively protecting their copyright on service manuals pretty much since the dawn of the internet. Heres an example of them going after Something Awful. Many of the sites theyve gone after have ceased to exist.

Since then, with the help of tens of thousands of incredible repair technicians around the world (including many redditors), we have built the largest free repair manual. Because we write them ourselves, the manufacturers cant shut us down. The community has written over 6,000 manuals, and you can download and reproduce any of them to your hearts content. We even post all of our manuals on bittorrent and the internet archive so they are guaranteed to be free forever.

Heres our Toshiba laptop service manual. Weve made progress on half a dozen laptops so far, with more on the way. Not nearly as comprehensive as what timix had, but its a start.

Toshiba is not an outlier here--they represent the status quo. Many manufacturers havent gotten around to issuing these C&D letters, but its perfectly within their right. Any site hosting manufacturer service manuals without permission is at risk of a shutdown like this at any time.

Thats why what we do at iFixit is so important. The world needs to know how to fix these products. Repair is critical for the environment. Repair helps bridge the digital divide by keeping the secondhand electronics market alive. And electronics repair represents hundreds of thousands of jobs in the United States alone.

We cannot rely on the good will of manufacturers. Yes, many of them have looked the other way and ignored sites like timixs, but that is unlikely to continue. We have three options:

1. Create a free and open alternative to the manufacturers service manuals (thats what were doing at iFixit).
2. Pressure the manufacturers to waive copyright to their manuals so that we can reproduce them. Dell, HP, and Lenovo are the best targets for this because they already provide manuals online. (I am involved in discussions with some OEMs to make this happen. The more public support we have, the more success well have.)
3. Legislate. The auto manufacturers refused to provide independent shops with the information they needed, so they banded together and just passed Right to Repair legislation in Massachusetts last week. There's no reason we can't do the same.

Its easy to say, "shame on Toshiba" and move on with your life. But this is not unique to Toshiba. No cell phone manufacturer makes their service manuals available. In fact, outside of the heavy equipment industry (where customers demand it) and the automotive industry (where legislation requires it), its the rare manufacturer that does not use copyright to prevent publicat

I run iFixit. We started writing our own repair manuals because of this very issue way back in 2003. Slashdot has run stories about us on a number of occasions.

Apple has been very aggressively protecting their copyright on service manuals pretty much since the dawn of the internet. Heres an example of them going after Something Awful. Many of the sites theyve gone after have ceased to exist.

Since then, with the help of tens of thousands of incredible repair technicians around the world (including many redditors), we have built the largest free repair manual. Because we write them ourselves, the manufacturers cant shut us down. The community has written over 6,000 manuals, and you can download and reproduce any of them to your hearts content. We even post all of our manuals on bittorrent and the internet archive so they are guaranteed to be free forever.

Heres our Toshiba laptop service manual. Weve made progress on half a dozen laptops so far, with more on the way. Not nearly as comprehensive as what timix had, but its a start.

Toshiba is not an outlier here--they represent the status quo. Many manufacturers havent gotten around to issuing these C&D letters, but its perfectly within their right. Any site hosting manufacturer service manuals without permission is at risk of a shutdown like this at any time.

Thats why what we do at iFixit is so important. The world needs to know how to fix these products. Repair is critical for the environment. Repair helps bridge the digital divide by keeping the secondhand electronics market alive. And electronics repair represents hundreds of thousands of jobs in the United States alone.

We cannot rely on the good will of manufacturers. Yes, many of them have looked the other way and ignored sites like timixs, but that is unlikely to continue. We have three options:

1. Create a free and open alternative to the manufacturers service manuals (thats what were doing at iFixit).
2. Pressure the manufacturers to waive copyright to their manuals so that we can reproduce them. Dell, HP, and Lenovo are the best targets for this because they already provide manuals online. (I am involved in discussions with some OEMs to make this happen. The more public support we have, the more success well have.)
3. Legislate. The auto manufacturers refused to provide independent shops with the information they needed, so they banded together and just passed Right to Repair legislation in Massachusetts last week. There's no reason we can't do the same.

Its easy to say, "shame on Toshiba" and move on with your life. But this is not unique to Toshiba. No cell phone manufacturer makes their service manuals available. In fact, outside of the heavy equipment industry (where customers demand it) and the automotive industry (where legislation requires it), its the rare manufacturer that does not use copyright to prevent publicat

I thought this was Slashdot. This should be the home of people hacking devices and breathing new life into them.

... Sorry, not since 2004 and the release of the ipod mini. Here, we praise the almighty apple, and their policies of less-than-user-repairable designs.

Looks like you need to get a better Rx on your bifocals or perhaps a stronger magnifier (not an affiliate link). Plenty of instructions and parts here and elsewhere for 'less-than-user-repairable' designs. Let me guess, you think you can't change the oil on a modern car, either?

I've delved into a couple of iPods and my brother has repair at least three iPhones. No tougher than replacing bits on a modern laptop, and only slightly more involved than replacing bits in a modern tower PC. Had you mentioned the glued in batteries on the MacBook Air or the pentalobe screws, maybe you would have had a point, but 2004 iPod mini? That's a stretch.

With reengineering this could be a beautiful thing to put together entirely hands-off. As it is, the design is only amenable to manual assembly. As you imply, it'd require different approaches to design of various parts to get good yields with automated assembly.

Right. And it might be slightly thicker, which Apple sees as a problem. Look at the teardown, and notice the cable harness with the tiny connectors going into the sides of the subassemblies. That implies a tough assembly problem. Assembly requires getting each part close to its final location, then, while holding the part, attaching the connector. Only then can the part be moved to its final location and attached. This is much harder than bolting down the parts and plugging in the wiring harness. (It's probably one of the places where Foxconn employes are screwing up. Two-handed tweezer work under a magnifier is not easy. Most people can't do it, and almost nobody can do it consistently when tired.)

If the harness were on top and connectors went in vertically, assembly would be easier but the device thickness would increase slightly. Redesigning to fix that problem would delay production. Using the back as a substrate and putting traces on it, then soldering everything to the back in ball-grid array style might work, but that increases fragility because stress on the back cover is applied directly to a soldered joint.

Compare the Droid Razr teardown. That's a design more suited for automated assembly. Put part in place, then attach connector. Uses more adhesives and is less maintainable, though. Those are the tradeoffs.

huh? Looks to me like it has at least two dozen screws ;)

That's ironic, because iFixit finally gave the iPhone 5 a much better score than all previous generations as far as repair goes. In the factory the boards are populated by machine, leaving the final assembly of the various parts by hand, which is basically the same process you have when manually disassembling / reassembling the device. Just doesn't jive with what iFixit had to say. Sounds like they are trying to shift blame to me.

Definitely 3.5", unless ifixit employs small children.

No, that's not completely true. The Zen has both soldered and upgradeable RAM. It also apparently maxxes out at 10gig.

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Asus-Zenbook-UX32VD-Teardown/10120/2

http://www.crucial.com/upgrade/ASUS-memory/ASUS+Notebooks/ZENBOOK+UX32VD-upgrades.html

There are also apparently upgradeable SSD for the Air, I think I linked one in a different post in this thread. I wasn't aware of these and they aren't standard form factor but they are out there. Looks like the same SSD may not work in every Air however. The Zen is nice enough to use a standard drive albeit just 5400RPM, it has a 24Gig SSD "cache" that's supposed to help. I think I'd swap to a full on SSD though as prices are dropping nicely on them. My current laptop has 60Gig and runs XP, it's barely enough. My desktop running Win7 has a 90 and it too is running out and I don't load software to the boot drive. I think about 240Gig would be enough in a laptop, I could probably get by with 128Gig for awhile. I'd like to be able to have some virtualized machines...

Uh, you mean something like this?

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-MacBook-Air-13-Inch-Mid-2011-Battery/6359/1

Remove some screws, and lift the battery out, done...? Is it really that difficult?

They will have to scavenge for porn in some way, as it's customary with repair guys. iPads have internal disks of some form too,

They have non-volatile storage that's used for the file system (yes, it has a UN*X file system - multiple partitions, running, I think, case-sensitive HFSX - even if it's not made visible to the end user of a non-jailbroken box), but it's flash memory soldered to the motherboard, so accessing it if you can't turn the iPad on would be a bit more work.

I'll give you three.

1. You have no choice but to buy from Apple and once they drop support you are SOL.

ifixt sells refurbished batteries for last years macbook airs, I suspect they will soon have ones for this years, and the rMBP. There are other places that do as wekk

2. You can't carry a spare battery for long journeys.

While I'll give you this, I had spares for both my 2006 macbook pro and my powerbook before that. Before *that* I had a Compaq Armada 1750 that was a beast and held 2 batteries when I needed internally. When I replaced the MBP with an air this summer I didnt worry about needing a spare so much, the machine holds a (realistically, when working) 5hr-6hr charge. That's far better than I got swapping batteries with either of my 2 recent machines. I haven't had many days when I need more than that on battery, and it's nice to get that now without needing to swap batteries. I suspect most people feel the same way.

3. You can't safely dispose of the machine yourself, you have to get Apple to deal with the battery. Since the SSD can't be removed either if the machine dies there is no way to remove your data first.

The SSD *can* be removed, as can easily be seen here. OWC already sells a (admittedly expensive) third part SSD as well., and an external enclosure that can hold said SSDs

I'll give you three.

1. You have no choice but to buy from Apple and once they drop support you are SOL.

ifixt sells refurbished batteries for last years macbook airs, I suspect they will soon have ones for this years, and the rMBP. There are other places that do as wekk

2. You can't carry a spare battery for long journeys.

While I'll give you this, I had spares for both my 2006 macbook pro and my powerbook before that. Before *that* I had a Compaq Armada 1750 that was a beast and held 2 batteries when I needed internally. When I replaced the MBP with an air this summer I didnt worry about needing a spare so much, the machine holds a (realistically, when working) 5hr-6hr charge. That's far better than I got swapping batteries with either of my 2 recent machines. I haven't had many days when I need more than that on battery, and it's nice to get that now without needing to swap batteries. I suspect most people feel the same way.

3. You can't safely dispose of the machine yourself, you have to get Apple to deal with the battery. Since the SSD can't be removed either if the machine dies there is no way to remove your data first.

The SSD *can* be removed, as can easily be seen here. OWC already sells a (admittedly expensive) third part SSD as well., and an external enclosure that can hold said SSDs

Right, but, you don't have to have it replaced by Apple. http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-MacBook-Air-Models-A1237-and-A1304-Battery/848/1 and a bunch of other sites have the procedure for swapping out the battery. No, it's not a "slide a clip and you're done" job, there's a screwdriver involved, but it's hardly difficult for anyone with any skill whatsoever. Not sure why subby thinks this makes it impossible, maybe they don't have a screwdriver and the skills to google.

It's true, the CPU is "sealed" (one can upgrade the memory, drive if really necessary).

Drive, yes. Memory, well, it's soldered to the system board - can one safely un-solder the memory chips and solder in replacements? Apparently the iFixit people don't think so.

Also, I'm curious, can't you solder new memory in the Retina macs?

I'm not sure how hard it would be to un-solder the memory and solder new memory in; the iFixit people say "As in the MacBook Air, the RAM is soldered to the logic board. Max out at 16GB now, or forever hold your peace—you can't upgrade.", which seems to suggest that unless you're cleverer than the iFixit folks, the answer to your question may be "no, you can't".

Also, are they sealed how? With glue or something?

No, the Retina MacBooks Pro aren't sealed. They're screwed together with screws with special pentalobe "slots" that require special screwdrivers. The battery, however, is glued in.

Also, I'm curious, can't you solder new memory in the Retina macs?

I'm not sure how hard it would be to un-solder the memory and solder new memory in; the iFixit people say "As in the MacBook Air, the RAM is soldered to the logic board. Max out at 16GB now, or forever hold your peace—you can't upgrade.", which seems to suggest that unless you're cleverer than the iFixit folks, the answer to your question may be "no, you can't".

Also, are they sealed how? With glue or something?

No, the Retina MacBooks Pro aren't sealed. They're screwed together with screws with special pentalobe "slots" that require special screwdrivers. The battery, however, is glued in.